Two-Day Event to be Held on 4-5 November. Bringing Together Global Investors and Entrepreneurs to Explore New Frontiers in Agentic AI, One-Person Companies (OPCs), and Hong Kong’s Role as an International Innovation, Funding, and Technology Hub
Updated
October 30, 2026 9:22 PM
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Hong Kong, 26 October 2026 – As the global venture capital market evolves amid economic shifts, investment flows are increasingly concentrated, particularly in artificial intelligence (AI), which continues to drive significant momentum. The annual flagship event, Cyberport Venture & Capital Forum (CVCF), will take place on 4-5 November 2026 at Cyberport. Themed “Scaling in a Changing World: Winning the Next Competitive Cycle”, this year’s CVCF will unite influential global investors and entrepreneurs to explore key themes including Enterprise and Agentic AI, One-Person Companies (OPCs), frontier technologies, and spotlight Hong Kong's unique position as a strategic gateway connecting Chinese Mainland, ASEAN, the Middle East, global innovation and funding networks. The forum aims to empower start-ups and investors to break through financing and market expansion barriers, seizing new market opportunities.
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Dr Rocky Cheng, CEO of Cyberport, said, “As global innovation and capital markets undergo accelerated reshaping, AI, data technology, and emerging industries have become crucial engines driving economic growth. CVCF is dedicated to building a bridge between innovation and capital. This year’s forum focuses on new trends such as AI, digital assets, and One-Person Companies (OPCs), exploring emerging market opportunities and global expansion strategies. It decodes how enterprises can drive scalable growth with speed and resilience in a rapidly changing market. Through our investor matching activities, we aim to facilitate the commercialisation of innovations and cross-regional collaboration. Cyberport will continue to leverage its role as Hong Kong’s digital tech flagship and AI accelerator to foster a thriving I&T ecosystem and inject new momentum into building Hong Kong as an international innovation and technology hub.”
Cyberport’s start-ups have demonstrated robust fundraising performance over the past year. With 481 companies joining the community during this period, Cyberport start-ups have raised over HK$74.5 billion in funding. During the year, 19 Cyberport companies successfully listed, alongside the addition of 2 new unicorns. Recent high-value fundraising rounds include Finloop, Qupital, Premialab, and Buy&Ship, many of which leverage AI, blockchain, and digital assets - reflecting sustained market confidence in these emerging technologies and underscoring Cyberport's success in fostering their development.
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Hendrick Sin, Chairman of Cyberport Investors Network (CIN) Steering Group; Co-Founder of CMGE Technology Group Limited; Chairman of China Prosperity Capital, said, “Cyberport Investors Network (CIN) has come to its 9th anniversary this year, and our network of over 240 global investors has successfully facilitated more than HK$6 billion across over 133 project matchings, representing an increase of over 19 projects compared to last year. Simultaneously, the Cyberport Macro Fund (CMF), alongside co-investments, has directed HK$2.7 billion into high-potential ventures, with a co-investment ratio of 1:9:3., reflecting strong investor confidence in Cyberport companies. Through dedicated initiatives and our targeted investor matching sessions, CVCF continues to bridge high-growth ventures with institutional co-investment partners, public-private funds and foster collaboration across government, industry, academia, research, investment, and users, propelling enterprise scale across regional corridors.”
As Hong Kong’s digital tech hub, AI accelerator and key incubator, Cyberport leverages the Cyberport Investors Network (CIN) to attract influential investment units from around the world to connect with high-potential Cyberport enterprises to accelerate their development. Since its inception in 2017, the total investments facilitated by CIN have reached over HK$6 billion across a cumulative total of 133 project matchings. CIN’s investment units have surpassed 240, with 15% from the Greater Bay Area and 14% from the Asia-Pacific region, alongside continuous expansion into the Middle East and ASEAN, successfully aggregating global venture capital.
Another key financing channel, Cyberport Macro Fund (CMF), continues to invest in high-potential start-ups while enhancing their fundraising capabilities. As of September 2026, CMF has invested in 30 start-up projects, with the total investment, including co-investments, exceeding HK$2.7 billion, with a co-investment ratio of 1:9.3 — meaning every HK$1 invested by Cyberport attracts an additional HK$9.3 in co-investment. Further augmenting ecosystem liquidity, Cyberport, BOCHK Asset Management, and BOC Group Investment have formed a strategic partnership in May 2026 around a completed venture capital fund to back promising Hong Kong I&T start-ups. This demonstrates Cyberport’s sustained ability to attract and secure capital in a challenging environment.
Cyberport companies have recently achieved remarkable success across venture capital fundraising, advanced technology commercialisation, and international market expansion. Among them, leading Cyberport community members, including global Web5 wealth technology platform Finloop, independent fintech and data analytics platform Premialab, and cross-border fintech platform Qupital, shared their insights on navigating capital cycles, deploying next-generation financial architectures, and scaling from Hong Kong into regional and global markets.
Zhao Yang, Deputy CEO of Finloop, said, “While originating from an established corporate background, we strategically chose Cyberport as the ideal launchpad to spin off our project and scale our vision. Cyberport has been an indispensable catalyst for Finloop’s growth as we develop our AI-driven, one-stop Web5 wealth technology and RWA issuance platform, delivering AI-native liquidity solutions to institutions and SMEs. Beyond providing a vibrant community of innovators, Cyberport’s dynamic ecosystem provides an invaluable springboard for us with leading commercial banks, brokerages, and External Asset Managers (EAMs) across Hong Kong and Singapore, accelerating our mission to build compliant and institutional-grade infrastructure that unlocks new liquidity and value flows across the region.”
Pierre Trecourt, Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer of Premialab, emphasized the growing importance of advanced data analytics in multi-asset investing, “In an increasingly complex and volatile market environment, institutional investors need greater transparency and sophisticated analytics to construct resilient portfolios, benchmark systematic investment strategies, and manage risk. Hong Kong’s unique position as a global financial hub, combined with its exceptional talent pool and Cyberport’s extensive ecosystem, provides an ideal environment for fintech companies to innovate, expand internationally, and scale their businesses.”
Winston Wong, Co-Founder and CEO of Qupital, discussed their milestone achievements in digital economy lending and underscored Cyberport’s long-standing backing throughout their journey, “Cyberport has played an integral role throughout Qupital’s journey from a homegrown startup to a profitable Series C fintech company. Under the support of Cyberport’s investor networks and platforms, we are proud to have become the first platform in Asia to securitise e-commerce merchant loans while sustaining industry-leading credit performance and profitability. Our journey truly reflects how Cyberport empowers homegrown fintech pioneers to scale sustainable cross-border supply chain financing across the Greater Bay Area and global markets.”
Cyberport Venture & Capital Forum 2026 will feature opening remarks by Lillian Cheong, Acting Secretary for Innovation, Technology and Industry, and bring together venture capital leaders, including representatives from Taara, Gobi Partners, Alumni Ventures, Rasmal Ventures, Primavera Capital, Draper Dragon, Pegasus Tech Ventures, Plug & Play and more to discuss the latest technology and market focus:
CVCF 2026 will continue to feature the popular “Investor Matching” session, offering face-to-face and online interactions to pair investors with start-ups based on their technological focus and investment preferences, enhancing collaboration efficiency. Additional highlights include over 80 physical showcase booths, funder power pitches, start-up clinic & workshop, providing attendees with practical insights and strategic advice. Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signing ceremonies between Cyberport and international partners including Gobi Partners and Thailand’s National Innovation Agency (NIA) will also be held on the day.
The Agentic Economy Summit, a key highlight of the forum, will feature a keynote speech from Mr Joseph CHAN, JP, Under Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, bringing together AI pioneers, regulators, and financial giants to examine how digital identity, institutional tokenisation, HKD stablecoin issuance, programmable payments and machine-to-machine commerce are building the financial rails of the future. Featured speakers will also include representatives from HashKey, Cobo, Unlimit, Anchorpoint, UBS, Monk’s Hill Ventures, and more. The summit will also be exploring the emerging phenomenon of One-Person Companies (OPCs), highlighting how AI agents enable lean entrepreneurial ventures to achieve unprecedented operational scale.
As Cyberport’s flagship venture capital event, CVCF connects investors and entrepreneurs in the global digital technology. In 2025, the hybrid event attracted over 2,700 participants, achieved more than 180,000 views and facilitated more than 500 deal flows, fostering partnerships and investment opportunities. For more details, please visit the website: http://cvcf.cyberport.hk/.
The annual flagship event, Cyberport Venture Capital Forum (CVCF) 2026, will take place on 4-5 November 2026 at Cyberport. Themed “Scaling in a Changing World: Winning the Next Competitive Cycle”, this year’s CVCF will unite influential global investors and entrepreneurs to explore key themes include Enterprise AI, One-Person Companies (OPCs), frontier technologies, and spotlight Hong Kong's unique position as a strategic gateway connecting Chinese Mainland, ASEAN, the Middle East, global innovation and funding networks. The forum aims to empower start-ups and investors to break through financing and market expansion barriers, seizing new market opportunities. Dr Rocky Cheng, CEO of Cyberport (third right), Hendrick Sin, Chairman of Cyberport Investors Network (CIN) Steering Group (third left); Ir Eric Chan, Chief Public Mission Officer of Cyberport (second right), and Cyberport community members, Zhao Yang, Deputy CEO of Finloop (second left), Pierre Trecourt, Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer of Premialab (first right), and Winston Wong, Co-Founder and CEO of Qupital (first left), attended the media briefing.
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Ir Eric Chan, Chief Public Mission Officer of Cyberport introduced the speakers and highlights of the two-day Cyberport Venture Capital Forum 2025, as well as the Web3.0 Innovation Expo.
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Ir Eric Chan, Chief Public Mission Officer of Cyberport (first left) and Cyberport community members, Zhao Yang, Deputy CEO of Finloop (second left), Pierre Trecourt, Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer of Premialab (second right), and Winston Wong, Co-Founder and CEO of Qupital (first right), shared investment insights and experiences in facilitating fundraising during the discussion session.
Keep Reading
A closer look at how reading, conversation, and AI are being combined
Updated
February 7, 2026 2:18 PM
Assorted plush character toys piled inside a glass claw machine. PHOTO: ADOBE STOCK
In the past, “educational toys” usually meant flashcards, prerecorded stories or apps that asked children to tap a screen. ChooChoo takes a different approach. It is designed not to instruct children at them, but to talk with them.
ChooChoo is an AI-powered interactive reading companion built for children aged three to six. Instead of playing stories passively, it engages kids in conversation while reading. It asks questions, reacts to answers, introduces new words in context and adjusts the story flow based on how the child responds. The goal is not entertainment alone, but language development through dialogue.
That idea is rooted in research, not novelty. ChooChoo is inspired by dialogic reading methods from Yale’s early childhood language development work, which show that children learn language faster when stories become two-way conversations rather than one-way narration. Used consistently, this approach has been shown to improve vocabulary, comprehension and confidence within weeks.
The project was created by Dr. Diana Zhu, who holds a PhD from Yale and focused her work on how children acquire language. Her aim with ChooChoo was to turn academic insight into something practical and warm enough to live in a child’s room. The result is a device that listens, responds and adapts instead of simply playing content on command.
What makes this possible is not just AI, but where that AI runs.
Unlike many smart toys that rely heavily on the cloud, ChooChoo is built on RiseLink’s edge AI platform. That means much of the intelligence happens directly on the device itself rather than being sent back and forth to remote servers. This design choice has three major implications.
First, it reduces delay. Conversations feel natural because the toy can respond almost instantly. Second, it lowers power consumption, allowing the device to stay “always on” without draining the battery quickly. Third, it improves privacy. Sensitive interactions are processed locally instead of being continuously streamed online.
RiseLink’s hardware, including its ultra-low-power AI system-on-chip designs, is already used at large scale in consumer electronics. The company ships hundreds of millions of connected chips every year and works with global brands like LG, Samsung, Midea and Hisense. In ChooChoo’s case, that same industrial-grade reliability is being applied to a child’s learning environment.
The result is a toy that behaves less like a gadget and more like a conversational partner. It engages children in back-and-forth discussion during stories, introduces new vocabulary in natural context, pays attention to comprehension and emotional language and adjusts its pace and tone based on each child’s interests and progress. Parents can also view progress through an optional app that shows what words their child has learned and how the system is adjusting over time.
What matters here is not that ChooChoo is “smart,” but that it reflects a shift in how technology enters early education. Instead of replacing teachers or parents, tools like this are designed to support human interaction by modeling it. The emphasis is on listening, responding and encouraging curiosity rather than testing or drilling.
That same philosophy is starting to shape the future of companion robots more broadly. As edge AI improves and hardware becomes smaller and more energy efficient, we are likely to see more devices that live alongside people instead of in front of them. Not just toys, but helpers, tutors and assistants that operate quietly in the background, responding when needed and staying out of the way when not.
In that sense, ChooChoo is less about novelty and more about direction. It shows what happens when AI is designed not for spectacle, but for presence. Not for control, but for conversation.
If companion robots become part of daily life in the coming years, their success may depend less on how powerful they are and more on how well they understand when to speak, when to listen and how to grow with the people who use them.